Blacks and reds: race and class in conflict, 1919-1990

In this important new study, Hutchinson examines in detail the American Communist party's largely unsuccessful effort to win the allegiance of black Americans in the 20th century. From the time of its creation in 1919, Hutchinson argues, the party sought to recruit African Americans, initially by arguing that Marxist ideology best served their interests; further, Communist ideologues declared that injustices visited upon African Americans resulted from economic and class antagonism, not racial bigotry. But as Hutchinson clearly demonstrates, tensions between blacks and "Reds" increased as time passed and as a African American leaders such as W.E.B. DuBois, James Weldon Johnson, and Kelley Miller made it clear that they would not permit African American interests and agendas to become subservient to party ideology. While Communism may have appealed to some, Hutchinson shows that most blacks were not interested in the party, its penchant for theoretical abstraction, or its call for proletarian revolt. He also dispels the widely held misconception that 20th century black political movements were largely creations of Communist initiatives. Such notions, he argues, are not only wrong, but serve as impediments to understanding African American organizations in the context of their unique and historically black identity.